Walgreen stock tumbled nearly 6 percent, to close at $45.22. It was down more than 8 percent at one point in trading.

Net income for the quarter rose 16.2 percent to $624 million, or 65 cents a share, compared with profit of $537 million, or 62 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

The nation’s largest drug store chain said sales in the quarter ended May 31 rose 3.2 percent to $18.3 billion, fueled by an 8.7 percent increase in prescription volume.

Walgreen also missed expectations on third quarter sales as customer traffic in stores open at least a year declined by 3.9 percent, a shortfall CEO Greg Wasson said the company is looking to address.

“Our front-end sales are still not up to our expectations, and while the economy remains challenging, increasing customer traffic and front-end sales are our near-term priorities with a focus on pricing and promotion and the leveraging of our Balance Rewards program, which now has 75 million members,” Wasson said in a statement.

In a morning conference call with investors, Wasson said results suffered particularly at stores in low-income neighborhoods, where the economic recovery has failed to gain footing as compared with stores in more affluent and middle-class areas. In response, the chain is revamping product assortments and tailoring offerings at certain stores to “better meet the local needs” in those communities.

The company also said it began tweaking its pricing and promotional strategy last month in an effort to boost foot traffic and basket size, drawing from data compiled through its rewards program. As part of that strategy, Walgreen is funneling more money into digital and loyalty-based marketing and away from its legacy Sunday newspaper print circulars.

Wasson also said Walgreen will continue to look at acquisitions, which have played a key role over the last two years in transforming the company.

“We are in the market, we are buying,” he said. “Beyond that I can’t say much more.”

Walgreen took charges in the quarter related to its acquisition of AmerisourceBergen, a settlement with the Drug Enforcement Division and taxes related to its Alliance Boots business.